


Miles Behind Us

by LBLBLB



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Gen, Tropes, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-28
Updated: 2015-05-29
Packaged: 2017-12-16 11:17:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/861393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LBLBLB/pseuds/LBLBLB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Zombie Apocalypse comes to Pawnee.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Zombies

Ben Wyatt found himself wandering through rural Indiana with strangers. It has been eight months since he woke up and went to city hall in Snerling, coming dangerously close to being eaten alive by, apparently, zombies. 

He barely made it past city limits that first day. He barricaded himself back in his motel room and from his window he watched the residents of Snerling kill zombies as well as each other. Days later when a man with a gun dropped dead in the parking lot, he went for it. Hungry and desperate, he grabbed the gun and took off into the wilderness of Southern Indiana. 

First he met Ron. Ron was amazing at surviving. And for whatever reason, he took to Ben. He taught Ben how to make weapons, how to search for food, and tracking skills. Ben was a quiet guy, and Ron was near mute. They worked well as a team. They roamed from house to house, farm to farm, town to town. Killing walkers and foraging for resources.

Two months in, they met Ann and Andy. A couple that had been camping when the world changed. They had made it on their own thus far with Ann’s ingenuity and nursing skills, and Andy’s ability to hide and run fast.

The four of them picked up a man a few weeks ago named Jerry. He had a camper that his wife and daughters were living in. They had it filled to the brim with guns and ammo. Then one day, he lost his family. It was his turn to be on watch and two of the girls were off scavenging for fuel and his wife and youngest daughter were washing clothes in a little stream. He said he saw the walkers coming, and he tried to alert them. But they were surrounded. And Jerry could do nothing but stand and watch as a crowd of walkers took his beloved girls away from him. He was heartbroken. His skin hung loose over his bones, as if he’d lost a dramatic amount of weight very quickly. When he told Ben, Ron, Andy and Ann his story, his face was gaunt and devoid of expression. His tone of voice flat and unaffected. He had no idea how long it had been. Luckily, for him, his family ‘turned’ before the crowd had passed, and so they blended in. He never even saw them as monsters because they were just swept away.

Ann said Jerry was in shock. They tried to get him to eat or drink but he wasn’t able to. They tried to comfort him and make him a part of their group, but he couldn't matriculate. They didn’t necessarily want to have him join them; it was clear he was going to be a burden. But they did need his RV. And they really needed his arsenal. So they tried to bring him into their tiny group. 

But it wasn’t meant to be.

Only two days after meeting him, the four of them lost Jerry, to of all things, a heart attack. Ben hated to admit that he was a little relieved. He knew, hell they all knew, Jerry would have only slowed them down, not that they were really running to any specific destination, they weren’t. But that is how the world was now: every living man for himself, running in circles just to try to keep alive like animals in a forest. They had no known purpose. No jobs, no community to serve, no more families and friends to visit. They only had each other for (limited) moral support, and the basic human instinct to survive.

Ben would always move forward carrying gratitude for meeting Jerry. It had been a while since Ben had seen a person that was close to loss. He had been merely surviving for so long, he forgot what it was to have deep feelings or a connection to other people. Jerry reminded him that there are still things in this frakked up world that are worth being broken-hearted over. Jerry reminded Ben of the world before this insane change. Jerry reminded him that Ben used to have people in his life that he loved. Seeing someone so close to loss made Ben wish that his heart didn’t feel so robotic; more than a mere ticking away of valves and muscle that were leading him into an inevitable doom. He thought of his mother and sister in particular. How his heart was just for them once upon a time. And it gave him hope that perhaps one day he would be able to feel that kind of deep love for another person again.

Plus, Jerry had left them with a ton of weapons. So that was pretty good too.

 

*****

On a sunny autumn day, a month after they buried Jerry, the motor in the camper went bad and they had to park. It was beyond any of their abilities to fix it without getting a new part from another vehicle. But they had stuck to back roads and boondocks for a few nights now, and were not exactly in the best spot for this to happen. The highway was a lot of miles east. The group didn’t want to split up. They took as many supplies and defenses as they could muster to make their way to find abandoned vehicles. They found a river and walked along it, hoping it would lead them to a town with gas station or an auto supply store, and that they could avoid the highway for as long as possible. Nothing good ever came to the group when they were close to the highway. Too many walkers lurked in the ghosted traffic. And at this late stage, almost eight months after the day the world went to shit, most of the gas from cars on the highway had been long siphoned. 

Finally after hours in the hot sun, Ben saw a dilapidated sign in the distance. ‘Welcome to Pawnee’ it said. 

“Pawnee, I’ve been here before. We aren’t far from my hometown.” Ron said.

“I don’t see any Walker tracks in the river bed.” Ann said.

The sudden sound of multiple guns cocking made them all turn around, drawing their own weapons.

“You won’t find biters here.” A small, boyish man with dark skin and a full beard said. He was with a large black woman and a young woman with dark hair. Behind them stood the cleanest, most cheerful man Ben had seen since the zombies arrived. He literally smiled as he held his arms up to them.

Andy was the first of their group to speak. “Biters? We call them Walkers.” 

“Well that's stupid.” A young girl stated; her voice as expressionless as her face.

“Well they walk.” Andy said with a shrug. Despite all the drawn arms, he still had an air of casualness.

“I think more importantly - they bite.” The clean man said. 

“Toupee.” Andy admitted. Ben could only shake his head.

“Why don’t we put down these guns and…spears,” (that was to Ron) “And discuss what should happen next?” The large and bad-ass looking black woman instructed. Ben thought it best that they comply.


	2. Crossed Paths in the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Pawnee

Ben’s group was marched down the river for a few miles before they were taken to a very tall gate, the stench of rotting flesh and gunpowder filled his nostrils.  
  
They were told by the men and women herding them there that this was a gated town, Pawnee.  Completely free of ‘biters’.  Ben surmised that the town was strict and fairly unwelcoming to newcomers, and he feared that they were being led to some sort of prison.    
  
But perhaps they would find mercy and parts to repair their camper so they could continue on the road.  They weren’t looking for charity.  Ron stated that case.  
  
Except the second they moved beyond the gates, Ben could see that this was the place.  An oasis in the middle of the hellscape that had become of the world.  
  
“Governor! We were out hunting for biters, and found these.” Tom, the young dark man, called out.  
  
“Hunting biters? Why?” Ann asked.  
  
“We pile up all their body parts around the gate to the city to keep new ones from coming in. You do know they follow smells and sounds by now, right? We can't take away all the sounds we make, but we try.” Donna, told them.  
  
“And we can take away the smell of being alive by covering it with a million bloody arms and decapitated heads and rotting torsos.” April added, still devoid of expression on her face.  
  
“Good Lord.”  Ben gaped.  
  
Andy smiled at April, “That’s so awesome.”  
  
“Well it works.” April mumbled, suddenly bashful, picking at her nail beds.  
  
The clean man, Chris called over for them to catch up. “Come on, meet the Governor!” He said.  
  
“The governor of what? What state or country are we even in anymore?” Ron asked, flabbergasted.  
  
“We don't go by the old states. But this still Pawnee and Pawnee was once in Indiana and Leslie Knope is the Governor.” April told them.  She was fierce in her explanation.   
  
“Governor we found these people walking around over on the Eagleton side of the wall.” April reported in a militant voice.  
  
“Are you from Eagleton?” A female voice sliced through Ben’s ears.  It was accusatory and uncertain - but not unkind. The glare of the setting sun was preventing him from seeing where this voice was coming from.  
  
“Oh Eagleton is around here?  I heard it was really nice.  But no... Umm we all started traveling together just outside of Indianapolis.” Ben said, sensing unease amongst the larger group.  
  
“Good.  We don’t allow Eagletonians in Pawnee.  We always get the most rancid biters from Eagleton. We figured since they were rotten on the inside while they were alive that they put out the strongest odors now that they're dead.” Leslie said cheerfully while casting off her gun holster.  She moved into the shadow of a large tree and Ben saw her.    
  
She was looking at them all skeptically with big fiery blue eyes.  Her hair was bright yellow.  She was small and had an aura of power and ease.   It was the first moment since everything in the world went to shit that Ben Wyatt saw something that he thought was beautiful.  
  
As she spoke, she perched herself on an old park bench to level with them.  “You are not the first refugees to come here. Frankly, there is no reason for me to let you stay."  Ben sensed that she had given this speech before. "I’m not being cruel.  But you have to understand that we have a lot of people and limited resources.  I have to look out for the people who are already here in Pawnee.”  She was smooth in her delivery, like a practiced politician.  But she looked more like Indiana Jane.    
  
_God_ , he thought, _she is so sexy_.  
  
“If you want to live in Pawnee you're going to have to offer up any skills you have.”  
  
Ron spoke first, “I don’t believe any of us expressed an interest in staying here.  But, since you asked, I have all of the skills.”  
  
“All of the skills.” Leslie deadpaned.  Ben was cringing on the inside.  Couldn’t Ron see that this place could be their salvation?   
  
“Yes all. But I'm not about to beg you to let me build you a new governmental infrastructure. I abhor government.  I think the best thing that happened to us was...”  
  
“Hey! Hey... hey Ron?” Ben interrupted weakly.  They were on shaky ground here, and they needed to be non-threatening.   
  
“What he is saying is, losing the government was the silver lining in all of this mess.”  Ben excused.  
  
“No government! Are you insane? People need leadership and they need infrastructure and they need rules and they need services! Without rules nobody knows if what they're doing is right or wrong. And then how do you know if you're breaking the rules? You can’t just go along with the kids who try to get you to break the rules. Because if they want you to try to break the rules they aren't really your friends.” The Governor yelled.  
  
“God! What are we even talking about anymore?” April asked, sounding irritated.  
  
“I don't know. Sorry.  Ron, was it? So if you're as skilled as you say, and you want to live here where we have food and limited interruptions from corpses who want to rip you apart and eat your face, you can stay, but you will have to earn your place here.”  Leslie told him.  
  
Ben and Ann were both staring so hard at Ron, it seemed likely that someone’s eyes would pop out of socket if he didn’t fix this. 

“Thank you, Governor.” Ron grimaced when speaking her title.  
  
“What about the rest of us?” Andy asked.  
  
“I am a registered nurse, my name is Ann.  I can help in whatever kind of hospital or sick bay you have set up.  And Andy here is my nurse’s aide.” Ann lied.  Andy was not a nurse’s aide.  In fact, he didn’t really have a trade at all.  He played guitar and made people laugh.  Ben really liked Andy, and it was sweet to watch Ann try to save him now.  She had confided in Ben one night not long ago that she was about to break it off with Andy before the zombies descended on their campsite.   
  
“We really do need more health care providers.” Chris nodded to Leslie.  
  
“Hey you back there? Turd boy, what do you do?” Tom shouted.  
  
“Turd boy? I don't even – Whatever. Before all this I was an auditor for the state. I traveled around and helped governments reorganize and reallocate funds so that things could, you know, run smoothly and on budget.” Ben could practically hear him being tossed over the city wall as he spoke.  They didn’t need auditors here.  He had hardly anything to offer them.  He was so screwed.  
  
“Buddy!  That’s what I did!  What a small world!” Chris the clean man said.  
  
 _Great_ , Ben thought to himself.  _Just what they need here, redundancy._

He had to think fast.  “I also played shortstop on my JV high school baseball team.”  _Shit that did not sound impressive_ , he thought.  “I’ve been part of a government body before…” he offered meekly, “A little town called Partridge, Minnesota.” Never had he been so desperate to offer up this tidbit of personal humiliation.  But he had nothing more to offer. It was his Hail Mary.  
  
“You’re Benji Wyatt?”  Leslie asked, sounding like a fan and smiling like she was excited.  Ben could breathe again.  A strange mixture of relief and embarrassment came over him like a cold bucket of water on his head as the rest of the group looked between Leslie and Ben like they were watching a tennis match.  
  
“I am.”  Ben couldn’t fathom it, but he suddenly felt a little cocky. His gamble of revealing his identity had paid off.  And a woman that he found attractive, and that he needed to have on his side, knew who he was.  
  
“Who is Benji Wyatt?”  Tom asked.    
  
Leslie started explaining Ben’s story of his mayoral stint to the group, she said the words, _“I was so jealous of you.”_ And he could feel the angel and devil on his shoulders battling to finish the story.  He had to be direct and honest with them.  Otherwise this could go very wrong in the end.  So he told them everything, complete with Ice Town failure and subsequent impeachment.  
  
“We don't exactly have a need for a winter sports complex here either, Ice Town.” Donna said.  
  
“You know, we have met before?”  Leslie asked and the entire group fell eerily silent.  “You and I both attended the Midwest regional finals for Model UN in 1993?  Chicago?”  
  
Everyone stared at Ben.  
  
“There were three thousand kids at that conference.  We met?”  He knew he had to have the dumbest look on his face at the moment.  But he couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that he met this woman before.  Granted, she wasn’t a woman then.  But how he could have forgotten her was a mystery to him.   
  
“I was Denmark and you were…”  
  
“Peru.” He finished with a thud of realization. _Oh god.  He totally screwed her over.  And won the tournament._  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“God.  Oh my God.  I am so sorry.  I don’t know what to say.  I was really, _really…”_  
  
“What did you do to her son?” Ron asked, interrupting the volley between them.  
  
“Nothing.  He did nothing wrong.  He bested me.  Put me in my place at a time when I thought I was invincible.  I became better for it.  I owe you my gratitude.”  
  
“No.  no no no.  I was conniving and cruel and not very diplomatic at all.  I was a fascist hard ass.”  
  
“A cute fascist hard ass.” She mumbled.  And Ben’s eyebrows raised nearly off his forehead.  “Humm? What?  Oh what were we talking about?  Okay.  Yes.  You were a little cocky teenage boy and you humiliated me in front of my friends and colleagues.  But a year later you humiliated yourself in front of the entire country, and I hate to say I took a small amount of pleasure in it.”  
  
“I understand.”  He could barely catch his breath.  He remembered her now.  Big glasses, short Angela Lansbury haircut, spitting fire at him for going behind her back to reach a treaty with China.  They never spoke directly, but he sensed that she was smart and admired and a little overzealous.  And he was so on edge and unsure of himself, hiding behind his hair and his designer sunglasses.  He took away her confidence hoping that it would transfer to him.  He was such a little prick.  
  
Leslie had her head cocked to the side and considered him.  He had never felt quite so exposed in his life.  Not even when totally alone and faced with walkers.  She’d already basically waved Ron, Andy, and April into the fray.  Now he was alone again.  Waiting for this woman, who he scarcely knew but strangely admired to grant him asylum here in Pawnee.  
  
“You can stay.”  The sigh of relief from Ben, Ann, and Andy could have been loud enough to draw walkers to them if they were outside of the city walls.   
  
“Trial basis only.” Leslie continued, pointing at them.  “Pawnee is the best town in America, no, the best town in the world probably. I aim to keep it that way. And if you can't pull your weight, you can't be here.  I have sent people out there.  I didn’t want to do it, but I had to.  I am doing what I have to do for the citizens of Pawnee.”    
  
She still had that confidence that he so admired two decades ago.  But of course now she was also stunningly beautiful.  He was in deep shit.  
  
“Please, we will do it whatever it takes. We can't keep going like we have been, alone out there.” Ann told Leslie.  
  
“This is boring.” April said.  
  
“We understand. We have all felt alone for a while. It’s okay, Pawnee can help!” Chris said enthusiastically.  Ben was beginning to think that Chris must be the town’s motivational speaker along with being the budget specialist.  
  
“Thank you so much thank you thank you whatever we need to do what we're going to do it you won't regret this.” Andy sounded relieved as he made a round of hugs.    
  
It was strange; while Ben was watching him he realized something. People never touched each other anymore.  But he saw everyone’s face go from skeptical to thankful with every hug.  He suddenly felt the strongest urge to touch someone.  To hold and be held.  Ann looked up at him and knocked him with her shoulder. 

And he smiled.      


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I know. It's been months. And trope BINGO is over. And my hair porn chapter is rated PG. I know these things. But progress is progress! Many thanks to the super sweet and supportive hplssrmntc8688 and owlsaremonsters who have read snippets of this along the way. All mistakes are mine.
> 
> Trope: hair porn

There is a single errant curl. It's a perfect spiral that bounces on the back of her neck. Made of new hair, so it's too short to be gathered in the restraint of her ponytail. All day that curl has been tormenting him. He has the insatiable urge to pull it gently and watch it bounce back into place.

 

Through the course of the day, the humid air has caused it to swell and frizz. It's the only part of her that is not one hundred percent perfect.

 

Even through the post apocalypse Wamapoke summer, she looks fresh and put together. While everyone else looks sweaty, her skin looks cool and dewy. The clothes on everyone's bodies are dirty and tattered; she looks like she bought them that way, like she is right out of some posh and rugged j.crew catalog. Maybe he is delusional, seeing her through his very own crush-goggles. Or maybe this environment suits her. Maybe she was born to rule at the end of the world. Maybe she is perfect.

 

Perfect except for that little blonde curl that is begging for his finger to prod it. Good lord, he needs to get a grip.

 

She's been leading them around the town. Like a troupe leader and he, Ron, Ann and Andy are her scouts. She's actually showing them historically significant landmarks. As if anyone alive has the predilection for anything beyond basic survival. When she turns back to them, after giving a long and didactic monologue on Mayor Percy and his statue, Ben is staring at the little curl dangling against her neck.

 

She caught him staring and is staring right back. The other four people (April acting as security for Leslie) did not even notice that there had been a perceptible shift in the atmosphere around them. But Ben's entire world went screwy for the second time this year. First, zombies took over the world; now Leslie Knope caught him staring and didn't flinch before looking him in the eye. He didn't know which event was more significant.

 

"Leslie, let’s keep going, were going to melt!”

 

"Okay April," came a voice that was soft and meek and so unlike the authoritative tone he had heard all day. Her blue eyes stayed focused on him. And he could hear April growl in frustration at the pair of them as she stomped off.

 

"Let's go people!" Ben heard April command. But he was stuck staring at Leslie. Unsure of how to break free.

 

She, of course, took care of the awkwardness and said, "I should have guessed you would be a fan of mayoral history."

 

He had to shake himself to understand that she was saying. Right. Mayor statue. That’s what they were they talking about. He laughed a little nervously, completely unable to string intelligible words together.

 

"Who was Eagleton’s first mayor again?"

 

"Eagleton...? I don't know. I've never been there. Was it someone famous?"

 

"It wasn't. It was a former Pawneean that marched the wealthier citizens upstream, stealing the coveted cupcake recipe and many other Pawnee secrets." Her look turned sinister as she spoke, to the point that Ben felt as though he were being accused of something.

 

"He kind of sounds like a dick." He said in return.

 

She hummed in suspicious agreement and turned to join the others. The little curl still bobbing against the skin on her neck, taunting him with each step as she hurled questioning glances behind her shoulder at him as she went. He wondered what she was pondering about him, if he had he done something to cause her mistrust.

 

She continued giving them a full tour of the town, including grounds for a festival she devised in order to get all of the townspeople motivated to prepare for winter. He could tell that Ann, Andy and Ron were miserable. They were feigning interest in the name of self-preservation. But Ben was hooked on every word she uttered. Every mannerism and posture her body took. He wanted to memorize everything about her, beyond the little adorable curl that had initially caught his eye today.

 

“This is really amazing. Who would have thought of having a fair in the middle of the apocalypse?” He meant it as a compliment, but it came out a little stilted and bitter.

 

“Wow, Ben is that sarcasm?” warned April before rolling her eyes and walking away.

 

Leslie was looking at him strangely. Her arms were crossed and she clearly was waiting for an explanation.

 

He tried to backpedal. “No. No. I just would have never thought of such a thing. That’s me reflecting on my own inadequacies as a government leader.”

 

“Ice Town was a disaster and it seems like it was probably your fault. From what I can tell, you mismanaged the hell out of it.”

 

“Wow. Why even say anything?” He kicked the dirt beneath his feet, feeling the familiar sense of failure overcoming him.

 

“But at least you tried something. We have to try. If we don’t do something to prepare for winter, Pawnee will die. This festival is not ‘mine’ it’s ‘ours’. It’s Pawnee’s.” Her acknowledgement of his efforts caught him completely off guard. Not one person had ever validated his choice to try something. The fact that it was coming out of the lips of the most impressive person he had ever met was too much.

 

“Then put me to work. I want to help. That is, if you don’t mind someone like me helping. I feel like I might be cursed or something.”

 

“You’re not alone in that; the whole world thinks it is cursed.” She stepped closer to him, surveying the grounds. He could smell her hair. It was sweet smelling, nothing like the things he was used to smelling of late.

 

“Great!” She beamed at him with her radiant smile and big hopeful eyes. “Well Mr. Mayor, what are we going to do with you?”

 

Ben swallowed. He felt heat radiating between them. He could think of a million different things that he would like to do with Leslie. But none of them were appropriate for the festival.

 

“What was your favorite thing about carnivals when you were a kid?” he asked for no other reason other than really wanting to know.

 

“Hummm… food.” She giggled. “My favorite is cotton candy.”

 

Shit. He didn’t know the first thing about cotton candy.

 

He came mere inches away from that damned curl and said softly in her ear, “I guess I’m in charge of cotton candy then.”

 

He heard her hold her breath before he walked away.


End file.
